Click here to return to OFCN's Main Index Page.
--- Friday --- December 12, 1997 --- Vol. 7 --- No. 79 ---
D #### ##### #### ### #### #### ##### ### #### ####
A ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ##
I #### #### #### ## ## #### ## ## ##### #### ## ##
L ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ##
Y ## ## ##### ## ### ## ## ## ##### ## ## ## ## ####
THE NATIONAL UPDATE ON AMERICA'S EDUCATION REFORM EFFORTS
www.negp.gov -- on Wednesday
__________ __________
TRUST IN GOVERNMENT | SPOTLIGHT |
A new coalition has emerged | |
to promote government service. | WHAT'S THE WORD? |
The "Partnership for Trust in | |
Government" consists of 22 | Honesty, obedience, |
groups, including the Girl | respect, loyalty, shout |
Scouts of America, Tenneco | Pittsburgh public school |
Inc., the AFL-CIO, the United | students. Five of the |
Negro College Fund, IBM and the | city's elementary schools |
Discovery Channel (Barr, WASH | are embarking on a pilot |
POST, 11/21). | character education project |
A phone survey of 505 | designed to promote the |
Americans between the ages of | development of values in |
18 and 34, which was | young people. |
commissioned by the coalition, | |
found that while respondents | "Your Environment |
"have a personal thirst for | Character Education" |
public service" and want to | program depends on |
"make a difference in the lives | community involvement. |
of individuals," they are luke- | City buses will emblaze the |
warm on whether government can | character "word of the |
help them attain the American | week" on their billboards. |
Dream, writes the paper. | Radio and television |
Seventy-six percent of young | stations will broadcast the |
Democrats and 66% of young | word; and city papers will |
Republicans ranked teaching as | publish the valued word in |
the most appealing career. | their daily editions. |
Second choice for Democrats was | |
social work (62%), with | "It's also integrated in |
Republicans choosing corporate | the curriculum," explained |
management (52%). | T.M. Walker, of the Your |
The partnership's purpose is | Environment Inc. "You |
to counter "government-bashing" | don't need another time set |
by promoting good works by | aside for it." (#5) |
government. |_____________________________|
============== QUOTE OF THE DAY ==============
"High school seniors are more likely to take weapons to school
than to take calculus in school."
President Clinton. (#1)
_______________________________________________________________
| (c) by the Education Policy Network, Inc. |
| 1255 22nd Street NW; Washington, D.C. 20010; 202/724-0124 |
| EPN, Inc. hereby authorizes further reproduction and |
| distribution with proper acknowledgement. |
| Publisher: Barbara A. Pape |
|_______________________________________________________________|
============== TABLE OF CONTENTS ==============
GOAL SEVEN: SAFE SCHOOLS
"UNACCEPTABLE:" Clinton wants report on school violence. (#1)
STATESIDE
A WILSON WINNER?: Calif. gov proposes new ed initiative. (#2)
WHO'S WRITING WHAT
MEAN, MEDIAN, & I DON'T KNOW: An educator's guide to stats.(#3)
TESTS AND TESTING
BEYOND MINIMUM COMPETENCY: Maryland opts for tough test. (#4)
WHAT A CHARACTER
THE WORD: Character education comes to the Steel City. (#5)
SPONSOR SEARCH
The DAILY REPORT CARD is looking for a sponsor for Monday's
document. Benefits of sponsorship include: group's or
business's name/message on every Monday document; updated and
customized content for group's Web site on a weekly basis;
distribution to the DAILY REPORT CARD'S listserve; special
content focus in each issue (ie technology, teacher training,
standards). Sponsorship could come from one group or a
consortium.
The National Education Goals Panel sponsors the Wednesday
document. See their Web site (www.negp.gov) for a look at the
Wednesday DRC, which publishes as the "NEGP Weekly."
For more information, call Barbara Pape at 202/724-0124.
===== GOAL SEVEN: SAFE SCHOOLS =====
*1 "UNACCEPTABLE:" CLINTON WANTS REPORT ON SCHOOL VIOLENCE
In his weekly radio address to the nation last weekend,
President Clinton said he has asked Attorney General Janet Reno
and Ed Sec Richard Riley to develop an annual report card on
school violence (AP/N.Y. TIMES, 12/7). "We know more about the
overall patterns of car theft in America than we do about the
harm that comes to our children at school," said Clinton.
Clinton's call for an assessment of school violence comes on
the heels of the West Paducah, Ky., tragedy, in which a fourteen-
year-old high school student fired on his classmates during a
prayer service. Three female students were killed, reports the
paper.
"High school seniors are more likely to take weapons to
school than to take calculus in school," said Clinton. "This is
unacceptable."
Clinton gave no detail on how his plan might work, writes
the paper.
===== STATESIDE =====
*2 A WILSON WINNER?: CALIF. GOV PROPOSES NEW ED INITIATIVE
Calif.'s public school teachers would be evaluated for
promotion partly based on their students' test scores and new
teachers would be required to pass competency tests in
specialized subject areas under a proposal unveiled this week by
Gov. Pete Wilson (R). (Lesher, and Colvin, L.A. TIMES, 12/11).
"Carrying forward on his longstanding call for fundamental
reform of our entire education system, Gov Wilson has again
stepped to the fore to promote significant changes in the
business of education in the state," said a draft of the
education initiative obtained by the TIMES.
Other provisions of the proposal, which Wilson intends to
place on the November ballot, include:
Class size -- "lock in state funding necessary to maintain
maximum of 20 students through third grade;"
Management: "Create a management authority for each school
that would make decisions about curriculum and spending
issues" -- which would be comprised of two-thirds parents
and one-third teachers;
Inspector -- "Establish a chief inspector of public schools,
appointed by governor and responsible for evaluating school
performance individually and overall;"
Drugs -- "Require expulsion for students caught with illegal
drugs on campus (expulsion now required only for selling
drugs,") writes the paper.
The TIMES predicts a looming battle with the California
Teachers Association over the proposal. Tommye Hutto, a CTA
spokeswoman, already challenged some of the proposals as
"unnecessary or duplicative," reports the paper. However, the
union is reserving judgement until leaders have read the full
proposal.
Conservative groups strongly embrace the provision's
emphasis on parental control of schools, writes the paper.
Supporters of the initiative point out that many of the
proposal's points are popular with voters, according to their
polling data.
"This initiative is the next logical step in school reform,"
said John Nelson, a consultant to GOP U.S. Senate candidate
Darrell Issa. "It demands performance and rewards achievement
through the inspector general aspect of the proposal."
===== WHO'S WRITING WHAT =====
*3 MEAN, MEDIAN, AND I DON'T KNOW: AN EDUCATOR'S GUIDE TO STATS
A new publication by the Educational Research Service can
help educators conquer the statistics phobia. "Understanding
Education Statistics: It's Easier (and More Important) Than You
Think," written by Gerald Bracey, provides definitions and
examples aimed at helping educators become "good, wise, shrewd
consumers of statistics."
Bracey: "You need to be ready to deal with statistics when
confronted with them by parents, the press, or board members.
And you need to be ale to provide statistics when a policy issue
requires them."
Bracey, an educational author and Ph.D. in psychology from
Stanford U, has worked with educational organizations,
universities and the Virginia DoEd in school district
administration. His book provides information on:
descriptive and inferential statistics;
three measures of "central tendency" -- the mean, medium and
the mode;
the effect of distribution (Bell curve vs. J curve ...)
measures of dispersion, standard deviation and standard
scores;
correlation and it uses/misuses;
statistical significance and sampling;
rank versus performance;
rates versus actual numbers; and
percentile ranks, grade equivalents and normal curve
equivalents.
Bracey cautions readers to beware of statistical
interpretations used to support certain points of view. "When
people have decided in advance that they want to put a certain
policy in place, data are often used as camouflage," he said,
quoting Mark Twain "There are lies, damned lies and statistics."
He added: "Using data appropriately and accurately -- and being
able to respond intelligently when others don't -- is an
important job for all of us who care abut education."
"Understanding Education Statistics: It's Easier (and More
Important) Than You Think (Stock #-254) is available for $16.00,
plus 10% for postage and handling ($3.50 minimum). Quantity and
subscriber discounts are available. ORder from: ERS, 2000
Clarendon Boulevard, Arlington, Va. 22201; 800/791-9308;
800/791-9309.
==== TESTS AND TESTING ====
*4 BEYOND MINIMUM COMPETENCY: MARYLAND OPTS FOR TOUGH TEST
In a unanimous vote, the Md. school board approved the
development of a new series of tests that students must pass in
order to earn a high school diploma (Shaver, WASH POST, 12/11).
The board also voted to phase in the tests over a four-year
period to give local school districts more time to prepare
students.
Specifically, the tests would be developed to align with
state-mandated curriculum in 10 required courses, including three
levels of English, world history, U.S. history, algebra,
geometry, government and two of four sciences, writes the paper.
Board members will soon decide which tests students will take
when, what the cutoff will be and whether students will be
required to pass each test or earn an average passing score,
reports the paper.
Beginning in January 1999, ninth-graders will be given
practice exams. The school board will vote in August 2000 on
whether to "proceed with requiring students to pass the tests for
graduation," reports the paper.
Some parents and parent groups have expressed concern that
not all students will be taught by teachers prepared to teach to
a higher level. They maintain that some school districts are not
able to provide high-quality instruction, which means those
students would be at a disadvantage to earn their high school
degree.
Several board members concurred, saying the tougher tests
will hold their support only if the state pays for programs to
"ensure that students who are falling behind get tutoring or
summer school help starting in elementary school," notes the
paper. Edward Andrews, the state board's vice president and a
former superintendent of Montgomery County schools: "We don't
want youngsters so far behind by the time they get to high school
that they don't have a snowball's chance in hell of passing these
things."
Other school officials pointed out that their teachers will
need extra training to handle the task of preparing students to
take the tests. "I'll bet there are very few, if any, high
school teachers in the state who are qualified to teach reading,"
said Michael Hickey, superintendent of Howard County schools.
"Yet we have all kinds of high school kids who read
inadequately." Poorer school districts will need an infusion of
state funds to pay for after-school tutoring and summer school
programs for students who read at an elementary school level, he
said.
"If the legislature wants accountability in schools, they
have to pay for it," said Valerie Linaburg, a Howard County PTA
member.
According to the paper, the state will pay $3.8M to
administer the first batch of tests, with costs potentially
climbing to $15.5M a year if students are required to pass 10 of
12 tests. The estimates assume that 80% of the students will
pass the exams on their first try.
==== WHAT A CHARACTER ===
*5 THE WORD: CHARACTER EDUCATION COMES TO THE STEEL CITY
A new character education program will debut in Pittsburgh
Public Schools this year (Lee, Pittsburgh POST-GAZETTE, 12/1).
Pittsburgh schools are the first in the state to pilot the "Your
Environment Character Education" program, which depends on
parental, business and community involvement.
According to the paper, the program helps students in grades
preschool to 12 understand and value various character traits
such as honesty, obedience, respect, loyalty and enthusiasm.
"These are character traits that are universally accepted,"
explained T. M. Walker, vice president of the Glassport-based
Your Environment Inc. "If you're here in the United States or in
Pakistan, honesty has the same meaning. Respect is a universal
trait. There are no religious, sexual or racial tones in this
program. It's very, very basic."
The program is operating in 30 schools in Ohio, Ark., Ky.,
N.C., S.C. and now Pa. Five Pittsburgh elementary schools will
pilot the program, writes the paper. A character word of the
week will be selected and activities will be geared around that
word. For example, in other districts, some businesses have
placed the character word on a sign outside the school. Students
who "best exemplify" the word are recognized at school
assemblies.
In Pittsburgh, the Port Authority Transit has agreed to
place the character word of the week on bus signs. One
television station, KDKA-TV, will broadcast the character word of
the week on Saturday, while the New Pittsburgh COURIER will print
the weekly word in every issue. Local radio stations WISH-FM and
WJAS-AM will announce the word during broadcasts. "It all ties
together," said Walker. "Parents tell the word to them at home.
Then they see it in the newspaper or on television."
Pittsburgh school Superintendent Dale Frederick became
enamored with the "Your Environment Character Education" program
when he observed it in Dayton, Ohio. "Character education can be
used as an integral tool to help reduce discipline problems,
improve students' achievement and develop good character."
HOW TO GET ON THE DRC LIST-SERVE
To subscribe: Send an e-mail message from the account you
wish to subscribe to rptcrd@mail.apn.com with the word
"subscribe" as the "subject." Please do not write anything in
the text section; only type in "subscribe" under "subject" in the
memo heading. You will receive a short message confirming your
subscription. If you encounter difficulties subscribing, send a
message to drc@mail.apn.com, detailing the problem.
To unsubscribe: Follow the above instructions, but type
"unsubscribe" as the "subject."
Click here to return to The 1997 Daily Report Card
Click here to return to OFCN's
Academy Program
Click here to return to OFCN's Main Index Page.
Webmaster@ofcn.org